An apparatus and method for embolizing a target site in the vasculature is described.
Vessel occlusion is often necessary in a variety of cases including, but not limited to, treatment of aneurysms, atrial septal defects, patent foramen ovale, left atrial appendage occlusion, patent ductus arteriosus, fistula, arterio-venous malformations, fallopian tube occlusion for the purposes of sterilization, and occlusion in the peripheral vasculature. One method of vessel occlusion involves filling the vessel, malformation, or aneurysm with coils for the purposes of embolization. Such coils may be referred to as embolic coils. Due to the complex geometries associated with the vasculature, it is often difficult to have a coil that can quickly and efficiently occlude the target space. In this regard, embolic coils are often imparted with a secondary shape to improve occlusion and help prevent the coil from migrating out of the target space.
The process of imparting a secondary shape on an embolic coil typically involves winding the coil on a mandrel and applying heat such that the coil takes on the desired shape. This can often be a time consuming process. Manufacturing coils of various sizes can be challenging since the coils are often individually wound on different mandrels or on different regions of a mandrel in order to produce coils of various sizes and/or shapes.
It is therefore desirable to have an embolic coil that can efficiently occlude a target region. It is also desirable to have a process whereby multiple embolic coils can be wound on a common mandrel, or where multiple embolic coils can be produced by winding a single coil on a common mandrel and then cutting the single coil to create multiple, separate coils.